That’s my career goal (public firm CFO).
A CFO has three main areas of responsibility:
a) Controlling and Reporting
b) Management of firm assets (especially cash flow)
c) Capital strategy
You’re ultimately responsible for the preparation of GAAP - compliant filings and timely preparation of tax returns. You’d also need to do the day-to-day managerial accounting tasks like payroll and annual/sales/capex budgeting. A strong internal audit department is critical, and would likely fall in your division.
Under the Treasury functionality, you’re going to have to keep a keen eye on cash flows, and make sure that there’s always enough liquidity for capital projects. You’ll likely coordinate with outside investment firms and portfolio managers to ensure you’re using your cash and capital resources wisely.
However, a good CFO is more than just a competent books guy. You’ve got to be able to
manage the company’s credit lines, opine competently on potential M&A developments, and provide strategic feedback to the management and operations teams on how their proposed actions affect the bottom line.
A CPA is essential for part a and b. You really can’t run a firm’s accounting department without a thorough knowledge of how to prepare every entry from scratch. I can also see a CMA being extremely useful.
However, I really believe the CFA charter can be an important asset for a CFO. It can help with the management of an investment portfolio (even if you’re not doing it on a day-to-day basis, asset allocation is very important). It can also help out with larger strategic goals like a company that’s in an M&A prone sector. If a company has a solid controller and is looking for a non-traditional CFO that can provide some good feedback to the management team, a charterholder may help fit that roll.